From Hong Kong to Japan with love

In Japan, folding a thousand origami paper cranes is a symbol of good luck, happiness and peace. Why not show the Japanese people our support through their own tradition and make a thousand origami cranes (or more!)?

This project will support Save the Children initiatives. Since a massive earthquake hit Japan, the international NGO has been working hard on the ground. Its emergency relief team has already established the first children friendly space in Sendai. The space allows children to interact with each other and play safely while their parents focus on the family’s recovery. The stable and nurturing environment helps them heal and ward off the psychological effects of trauma.

To help them in their work, Young Post is launching “From Hong Kong with Love”. To take part in this project, follow the guide below and make an origami crane, write a message to the children staying at the STC safe areas, and make a donation.

With the donations, the organisation will set up more of those places and will distribute the resources that are most needed.

For each crane you make, write a short message on the wings and make a donation of minimum 20 dollars. There are two ways you can send the cranes and donations to us:

1 Teachers collect all the students cash donations, write a crossed cheque to "Save the Children Hong Kong Limited", and send both the cranes and the cheque to:

"From Hong Kong with love", Young Post, Morning Post Centre, 22 Dai Fat Street, Tai Po Industrial Estate, N.T.

Make only one cheque per school, and write the name of your school in a note, so we know who you are and how much you collected.

2 Teachers collect all the students cash donations and deposit the money and the cranes in Save the Children donation boxes at either of our offices in:

- Causeway Bay, 1 Leighton Road
- Tai Po, Morning Post Centre, 22 Dai Fat Street, Tai Po Industrial Estate, N.T.

Note the receptions' opening hours: 10am – 5.30pm weekly and 10am – 12.30pm on Saturdays.

Put all the cash donations in an envelop with your school’s name, so that we know how much your school collected. At the reception of our offices, ask for the Save the Children collection box.

Donations and cranes have to reach us by Saturday, April 2. We will publish how much we have raised and how much each school has raised, along with pictures of the cranes. We will then send the cash, cheques and cranes to Save the Children Hong Kong, which will send it over to Save the Children Japan and the children in the care centres.

For inquiries contact Olivia Chavassieu at [email protected]

“The devastation in Japan has hit children hard. Our team are already there setting up safe areas for children who urgently need your support. Thank you all so much in advance for making the cranes, which can reach the children directly, and for your various fund-raising efforts”

Take a square piece of coloured paper and fold in half horizontally. Crease. Open the paper and fold vertically. Crease. Open the paper and fold diagonally. Crease. Repeat for the other diagonal. Unfold.

There should be creases like the doted lines on the above picture.

Fold along the horizontal crease. Hold the paper either side of the “V” creases and push together to form a flower-like shape.

Flatten the shape.

You should have a diamond with two flaps on each side.

The openings are at the top.

Take the right-hand corner of the top layer and fold so the top edge meets the centre. Repeat with the left side.

Flip the paper over, and repeat both steps. Fold the bottom point up. Crease.

Open all folds on the side you’re working on. Hold the bottom point down on the table.

Open the top of the shape and bring the upper point down to the table. Follow the folds and flatten out into a skinny diamond. Flip the paper over. Repeat steps on the other side.

You should now have a skinny diamond, the top half of which is separated into “bunny ears”. Lift the lower flap to check there is a small triangle sandwiched there.

Fold the outer edge of each bunny ear into the centre.

Flip the paper and repeat on the other side. Congratulations – you’ve now got the base for your crane!

Turn the paper so the bunny ears are at the bottom.

Take the right-hand flap and fold it over to the left.

Fold the bottom point up to meet the top point.

Then unfold the fold made in step 9 (second picture). Crease the inner flap firmly. This will form the crane’s head. Repeat on the other side. The inner flap here will form the crane’s tail.

Pull the inner flaps out at a 45-degree angle.

Pinch “head”-side flap into a head shape.

Form the wings by folding down the centre points.

To make your crane stand up, open the bottom points out to form feet.

Congratulations, you’ve just made a beautiful Japanese crane!